Friday, July 8, 2011

Paul Feig Could Direct New The Bridget Jones Movie You Didn't Ask For

Since the massive success of Bridesmaids-- at $189 million worldwide and counting-- director Paul Feig has surely been circling a lot of interesting projects, and is reportedly developing a romance starring Melissa McCarthy and Jon Hamm that he'd make with producer pal Judd Apatow. So why would he put something that promising on hold to direct a threequel that nobody is asking for? I have no idea, but it's apparently happening. The Daily Mail reports, in the same story about Naomie Harris possibly playing Moneypenny (scroll down to the third item), that Feig is in very complicated talks to take over as director for a third Bridget Jones's Diary film.

If you're as uninterested in that idea as I am, take heart knowing that things are still very early-- there are no deals in place for Feig or any of the actors. Yes, they're hoping Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth will all reprise their roles, though who knows how much more difficult that might be given that Firth is now a busy Oscar-winner and Zellweger is something equivalent to box office poison. There's no book from Helen Fielding to base the film on, like the first two movies, but Fielding has written a script that focuses on Bridget trying to become pregnant-- and yes, despite the fact that Firth's character Mark Darcy proposed at the end of the second movie, she's still not sure who will be the father.

The possibility of a third Bridget Jones has been rumored for years now, and with the Weinstein brothers given the power to mine their old MIramax library for new sequels, they've been further talking up the prospect of a new Bridget Jones, along with sequels to all kinds of 90s movies you probably don't want to see sequels for.

Feig's participation in a third Bridget Jones would definitely make the film more interesting-- he's just coming off a huge hit and has a clear skill with direction-- but it also doesn't make much sense for a director who's got a lot of power now to do whatever he wants. I'd still put my money on the third Bridget Jones never happening, but the fact that it's moving forward at all is disturbing enough to start getting worried.